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Apple Introduces AirTag

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Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#601

Post by radicaldreamer »

_jal wrote: post #588
GurnBlandston wrote: post #581

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's comparable to existing products. I was hoping to read that Apple made the device sealed and rechargeable via a mat or the like. This device will be used like find my phone - a removable battery will make it trivial for thieves to disable the tracking.

The use case is very much not theft tracking, and they will not work for that. "An AirTag that has been separated from its owner for a long period of time will make an audible noise when it’s moved, as part of a privacy feature to let you know there’s a tag present." https://daringfireball.net/linked/2021/04/20/moren-fine-prin...

They will work if you leave one in a car that you drive often enough, however…

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#602

Post by gofreddygo »

crazygringo wrote: post #71

I thought one of the big use cases for this was to track stolen items, like a backpack or maybe even a bicycle. But the "anti-stalking" feature will notify someone if an AirTag they don't own appears to be traveling with them. Does this render it useless for anti-theft, then? Since it will just notify a thief that the bike they just stole is being tracked, and they can look for the AirTag and throw it in the nearest…

"Jealous 15 year old uses Apple AirTag to stalk friends"

Vs.

"AirTag notifies bike thief about itself"

For Apple this is a no-brainer.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#603

Post by nexuist »

arthurcolle wrote: post #594

My cat disappeared for 16 hours today, had no idea where he was. He has a heart issue so I was worried he went off and died. Would I be able to use AirTags to see where he was throughout the day or not? Obviously I could see where he is right now, but could I see where he roamed off to through the course of the day? I know that others have mentioned that no location data is stored on the device, but what if I want to…

The AirTag network requires other Apple devices to be nearby in order to register the location. The chip itself doesn't have any GPS capabilities. Ultimately it depends where your cat usually goes; if he's surrounded by people or hanging out around sidewalks chances are someone with an iPhone will walk by and automatically update his location. If he's in the forest or in rural areas without any tech nearby, AirTags won't help you until he gets back into civilization.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#604

Post by throwinawaysoon »

dahfizz wrote: post #590
s3r3nity wrote: post #555

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ...people praise Apple for doing things other people have already done. As Drake once said: "it ain't about who did it first/ It's about who did it right."

And you know apple did it right? On a device nobody has their hands on? There's nothing wrong with being a fanboy, but don't pretend like you're not fanboying.

it's almost as if they're paid to. Anything Apple does, it's just 'better/innovative/practical'

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#605

Post by mNovak »

dustinmoris wrote: post #164
jrochkind1 wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

not yet. If a significant portion of otherwise theft-friendly bikes have trackers, I don't see why they wouldn't learn to, someone would probably even commoditize the sniffing tech to sell to other thiefs.

> not yet. If a significant portion of otherwise theft-friendly bikes have trackers, I don't see why they wouldn't learn to, someone would probably even commoditize the sniffing tech to sell to other thiefs. They wouldn't because we already have TONS of historical data that thieves don't do that. I am a motorcycle lover and like every owner of a nice bike I know that apart from properly chaining your bike down the si…

In the reverse case, I recall seeing some articles that thieves will use bluetooth sniffers to identify valuables (e.g. cellphones without the BT turned off) in cars, to steal.

Seems feasible that having a sniffer for fancy apple trackers could locate some potentially valuable things to steal.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#606

Post by soheil »

I wonder if they can be stolen off of cats walking around streets of I don't know say Palo Alto... and re-paired to a new iPhone. Can this pose a theft hazard to the cats?

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#607

Post by nultxt »

rkuykendall-com wrote: post #324
burlesona wrote: post #100

The "commercial" they used to introduce this during the event was hilarious and awesome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbApA2JLZ_c

Reminded me of the Hello Tomorrow commercial by Adidas / Spike Jonze / Karen O: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbBNScrYN10

speaking of Spike Jonze, Apple, and commercials, it also kinda reminded me of the (brilliant) Spike Jonze-Anderson.Paak-FKA Twigs homepod commercial

https://youtu.be/k70OczvX45k

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#608

Post by hndamien »

daamsie wrote: post #595
kemonocode wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They probably caught enough flak with how incredibly unserviceable AirPods were and decided not to repeat the same mistake, especially here where it wouldn't give any benefit at all. Kind of a no-brainer, but you never know with Apple...

Having a replaceable battery kind of undermines its potential as an anti-theft device, so it's not true that there wouldn't be any be benefit at all to having a non-replaceable battery.

You don't think a smart thief that is going to remove the battery would also not just remove the whole tag?

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#609

Post by natch »

habibur wrote: post #16

> AirTag is designed for over a year’s worth of battery life with everyday use. The CR2032 battery is user-replaceable and widely available. Replacement batteries are sold separately. That's the piece of information I wanted to know first. Devices like this can be built, but those can't run on batteries for a reasonable time frame. Apple made it practical.

This is what turned me against Tile as a consumer. For the longest time they refused to provide any way for the end user to replace a battery, choosing instead to charge for something like a “recycling fee” which essentially matched the new normally discounted purchase price.

Yes the batteries are replaceable now, for some models, but I even declined to interview there a couple times based on the obtuseness of this product decision. And partnering with HP... not my idea of cool.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#610

Post by natch »

spoonjim wrote: post #325
dijit wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Tile has had it for years. I had a tile and it most assuredly did not have a replacable battery, I had to mill the thing open: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrhM5ujSU6w

Tile has products with replaceable and with non replaceable batteries.

Yes now they do. For years they had only non-user-replaceable ones but they were happy to charge a large fee for a swap.
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